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Louisiana Solar Rebates And Incentives

Rebates list

A decade ago, thousands of homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath, and Louisiana committed to rebuilding green. Since Hurricane Katrina, the state has supported pro-solar policies, offering significant incentives to individuals and businesses. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 reinforced the state’s desire to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. As a result, the amount of solar has significantly increased in the last five years.

However, as the aftermath of these two disasters have waned, political fighting has placed favorable solar policy in jeopardy. Concerns about the state’s budget and its reliance on the fossil fuel economy has caused some politicians, including Governor Bobby Jindal, to oppose solar incentives. As a result, popular programs, such as the residential tax rebates for solar installation, have been reduced or eliminated, and continue to face opposition. In 2013, the Louisiana Public Services Commission ended a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) pilot program that would have increased renewable energy capacity throughout the state, determining it to be unnecessary.

Given that most of the state gets more than 5 kilowatt hours of sunlight per square meter on a daily basis, Louisiana is well suited for solar power. Despite this advantage and the investments over the last decade, the state currently ranks 23rd in installed solar capacity. Louisiana’s electric supply remains dominated by natural gas power plants, and coal-fired power. Nuclear power provides most additional energy needs. Thanks to the oil refining industry, which relies heavily on fossil fuels, the per capita energy use is high, and renewable energy sources have remained comparatively negligible.

Search Federal Programs, Rebates or Incentives

NOTE: The current program is set to expire at the end of October 2015. The program is scheduled to be renewed in Nov 1st, 2015 with minor revisions.

Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) as part of its Residential Solutions Program offers various rebates and incentives for its residential customers to install energy saving measures. Incentives are available for attic insulation, duct sealing, HVAC, air filtration reduction and more.

Eligibility

To participate in the program, the applicant must be a residential customer of SWEPCO with a valid account number. Any resident of single family

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal is granted the authority to promulgate amendments, revisions, and alternative compliance methods for the code.

In May 2007, the New Orleans City Council adopted net-metering rules that are similar to rules adopted by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) in November 2005. The City Council's rules require Entergy New Orleans, an investor-owned utility regulated by the city, to offer net metering to customers with systems that generate electricity using solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, geothermal or biomass resources. Fuel cells and microturbines that generate electricity entirely derived from eligible renewable resources are also eligible.

The Shreveport Energy Efficiency (SEED) program, offered by the City of Shreveport, is intended to complement and enhance the existing Louisiana Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO) program. SEED offers professional energy audit buy-downs and low-interest loans for qualifying retrofits of residential buildings. These incentives are intended to assist in raising program awareness, applicant participation, and diminish costs for improvements.

The SEED program decreases the major cost of the energy audit to Shreveport residents. Energy Audit procedures are performed by the HERO program. Measures

Louisiana's Cleco Power offers energy efficiency incentives to eligible customers. Cleco Power offers a rate discount for residential customers building homes that meet the Power Miser Program specifications. Additionally, new homes installing eligible heat pumps may receive up to a $1,000 bonus rebate. A customer that is building a new home that meets program standards will receive a rate discount of 10% between November and April for the first five years they live in the house.

DEMCO, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, provides residential customers who have a qualified Touchstone Energy Home, a rebate of up to $0.10 per square foot of living area for electric heat pumps and $125 for electric water heaters. The special one-time rebate is not a permanent offer.

Residential customers of Entergy Louisiana, and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana can participate in energy efficiency programs designed to help offset cost of installing energy efficient equipment and measures. The Residential Solutions program takes a comprehensive measure to make the home energy efficient. The residential customer can schedule for a discounted energy assessment of the home, which helps to identify energy saving measures at your home. The contractor will also install low cost energy saving equipment such as CFLs, faucet aerators at no additional cost. The contractor can install

Entergy New Orleans has designed an incentive program to help residential customers understand and make energy efficiency improvements in eligible homes. Incentives are geared towards both individual measures and whole home upgrades. Individual equipment incentives include central AC systems, heat pumps, HVAC system tune-ups, and other comprehensive measures.

The Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program provides ENO residential customers with home energy assessments, recommendations for energy savings and incentives towards the cost of those upgrades. A range of insulation, air sealing,

The Home Energy Loan Program (HELP), administered by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR), allows homeowners to get a five-year loan to improve the energy efficiency of their existing home. DNR subsidizes half of the financing for energy efficiency improvements at a low interest rate to participating lenders, up to a maximum DNR subsidy of $6,000. Each participating lender sets the maximum loan amount offered to homeowners, as well as the interest rate that is charged to the homeowner. A homeowner can qualify for an energy improvement loan in two ways – either through an

Note: Ongoing proceedings related to net metering can be found in Docket R-31417.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC) adopted rules for net metering and interconnection in November 2005. Louisiana's rules, based on those in place in Arkansas, require publicly-owned utilities and rural electric cooperatives to offer net metering to customers with systems that generate electricity using solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal or biomass resources.* Fuel cells and microturbines that generate electricity entirely derived from renewable resources are also eligible. The rules apply to

NOTE: On December 2016, the Public Service Commission adopted changes to the net metering rules as proposed by the Commission Staff on April 2015. The modifications i) clarifies definition of excess net metered energy (excess generation), ii) provides for transferability of interconnection agreements, and iii) require utilities to continue accepting net metering applications after reaching net metering cap, but to compensate the excess generation at the utility's avoided cost.

In June 2010, the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) unanimously approved a Renewable Energy Pilot Program to determine whether a renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is suitable for Louisiana. The program was concluded in August of 2013 with the determination that, while utilities, staff, and regulators learned a great deal, a mandatory RPS was not needed in Louisianna. Three major reasons given not to pursue an RPS were 1) that renewable energy generation is more expensive than conventional energy generation, 2) that rising natural gas prices have put renewables at a cost

NOTE: SB 447 requires that by February 1, 2015 licensed contractors must be in compliance with the Lousiana State Board of Licensing to legally install solar panels. Contractors without solar PV Installer or Solar Heating Installer certifications issued the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) will at a minimum be required to take a written exam to demonstrate comptency.

In June of 2014, SB 447 mandated that the Louisiana State Licencsing Board for Contractors develop new rules for solar contractors no later than January 1, 2015. Licensed contractors must be in

NOTE: On July 2016, the Louisiana Department of Revenue issued a notice stating that all the tax credit allocated for the program has been fully claimed until December 31, 2017 (the entirety of the program). The tax credits were allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis. The State is no longer accepting any new applications.

Louisiana provides a tax credit for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems purchased and installed on or after January 1, 2008 and before January 1, 2018. The credit may be applied to personal, corporate or franchise taxes, depending on the entity which purchases and installs

NOTE: On July 2016, the Louisiana Department of Revenue issued a notice stating that all the tax credit allocated for the program has been fully claimed until December 31, 2017 (the entirety of the program). The tax credits were allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis. The State is no longer accepting any new applications.

Louisiana provides a tax credit for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems purchased and installed on or after January 1, 2008 and before January 1, 2018. The credit may be applied to personal, corporate or franchise taxes, depending on the entity which purchases and installs